This invention pertains to the determination of textile composition through the use of spectroscopy and chemometric modeling.
The identification of textiles is a concern around the world. Textile manufactures, retail marketers, and customs officials would all appreciate and utilize a new, fast, non-destructive method of fabric identification. For manufactures and marketers, this method would assure that the garments that are being made and sold are not made of substandard materials or being sold at over-inflated prices. Traditionally, analytical methods for determining fiber content include simple visual inspection with the naked eye, burn testing, microscopy, and solubility testing. These methods, though proven to be effective, have some drawbacks. Visual inspection, for instance, requires the examiner to have a working knowledge of the textiles he will be analyzing. Also, the feel and appearance of some fibers can be extremely similar to another. Microscopy shares the same drawback as visual inspection. Certain manufacturing processes can change the appearance of a fiber. Fibers viewed under the microscope, especially manufactured fibers, often have similar characteristics making a positive identification impossible. Burn and solubility testing can identify the class of fibers, but the technique is destructive and produces waste. (Kadolph et al., 2002).